On May 30, 2017, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton signed into law omnibus bill H1A, which included a sales-tax exemption on precious-metals bullion. (An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers many diverse or unrelated topics.) The new law will take effect on July 1, 2017. Minnesota becomes the 35th state to have a complete or partial sales-tax exemption on the retail sales of rare coins, currency, and precious-metals bullion.

For the past several years, Gary Adkins (David Lawrence Rare Coins) has done most of the heavy lifting with the Minnesota sales-tax exemption legislation, along with Lee Orr and several others. Adkins credits Bill Himmelwright (PQ Coins, Minneapolis, MN) as a key player in getting the bill enacted. Many other states besides Minnesota have taken a few years to pass their legislation; just ask the dealers in Michigan and Ohio.

Although the exemption includes only .999 gold, silver, platinum, or palladium bars or rounds, the late Diane Piret, ICTA’s director of legislative affairs, always said, “It’s better to get a partial loaf than none. We can always come back for more.”

“Minnesota now joins the 34 other states with a sales-tax exemption,” said Gary Adkins. “I want to thank everyone who helped make this exemption a reality. The ICTA partnership was invaluable to the successful conclusion of our efforts.”

Subd. 34. Precious metal bullion. (a) Precious metal bullion is exempt. For purposes of this subdivision, “precious metal bullion” means bars or rounds that consist of 99.9 [.999] percent or more by weight of either gold, silver, platinum, or palladium and are marked with weight, purity, and content.

(b) The exemption under this subdivision does not apply to sales and purchases of jewelry, works of art, or scrap metal.

(c) The intent of this subdivision is to eliminate the difference in tax treatment between the sale of precious metal bullion and the sale of stock, bullion ETFs, bonds, and other investment instruments.